It’s like an echo chamber effect.
Many do consciously dislike & distrust the media. But if they don’t already hold a strong opinion about a particular issue/candidate, they end up implicitly influenced by the media’s daily crapflood nevertheless.
And that’s my fear, that is what the media is counting on, people who have no opinion who are influenced by what they say..and they are influenced by what the media says its worked every election cycle. I think after 2004 the media figured out how to deal with the public to go with their point of view..they figured out how to make them BAA like sheep and vote for who they think is best